Broadway road closures, bus rerouting begins Monday

Saskatoon drivers and transit users should prepare to reroute their commute around Broadway Avenue as city crews get ready to repave and repair water mains along the aging stretch of road.

The $6.8 million repair job will start Monday on the north side of the road at the five corners intersection at the top of the Broadway Bridge and make its way south, block by block, to 8th Street over the next five months.
 
Crews were already on scene Thursday installing temporary water lines to reduce the impact on businesses and schools.

Staggered road closures will be in effect throughout the summer, including the week-long closure of the Broadway Bridge starting May 9. One side of the bridge will remain open to pedestrians and cyclists.
 
Starting Monday and running until the reopening of the bridge, bus routes 1 and 6 will detour down the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge. Route 1 won’t service Broadway Ave. at all, but route 6 will have service between 8th and 11th Street.
 
Once the bridge reopens and construction moves down a block, all bus stops on Broadway will be closed and temporary stops will be set up one block east on Dufferin Avenue. Traffic across the bridge will also be rerouted down Dufferin Ave.
 
A list of all affected transit routes is available on the Saskatoon Transit website.

Despite added traffic on other bridges, the city doesn’t expect major traffic problems as a result of the construction or the bridge closure. Broadway Bridge sees around18,100 vehicles drive across each day, compared to the University Bridge, that was shut down all last summer for repairs, which carries 39,000 vehicles a day.

Broadway businesses will remain open throughout construction and Business Improvement District executive director Sarah Marchildon said they will host multiple parties to keep people coming.
 
“We’ve got a plan to host block parties, with the concept of hopefully a block party per block per month,” she said.

The BID has also planned a yoga session on the Broadway Bridge in the evening on May 12th during the closure and will set a date for a party once all repairs are done in the fall.
 
Some businesses will experience temporary water shut off during construction. The city expects to have each individual line to a building replaced within a day.